Thousands expected to attend Eunice Kennedy Shriver public wake at Cape Cod church

Thousands expected for Eunice Kennedy Shriver wake

BARNSTABLE, Mass. — The hearse carrying the body of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, followed closely by her family, has arrived at the Cape Cod church where a public wake is being held.

The hearse arrived just after noon Thursday. Thousands of people, from dignitaries to Special Olympians to ordinary citizens, are expected to attend the six-hour public wake.

The wake is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church in the Centerville section of Barnstable. The white and gray clapboard church is where Shriver regularly attended services.

The Kennedy and Shriver families are to attend a private service before the wake.

A number of Special Olympics athletes are expected at the wake.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

BARNSTABLE, Mass. (AP) — Thousands of people, from dignitaries to Special Olympians to ordinary citizens, were expected to attend a six-hour public wake for Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

The wake was scheduled from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Victory Roman Catholic Church in the Centerville section of Barnstable. The white and gray clapboard church is where Shriver regularly attended services and was the site of the 1986 wedding of Caroline Kennedy, President Kennedy’s daughter, to Edwin Schlossberg.

The Kennedy and Shriver families are to attend a private service before the wake. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who is battling brain cancer, is not expected to be there, a spokesman said. It is uncertain whether the senator will be able to attend an invitation-only funeral Mass at St. Francis Xavier church in Hyannis on Friday, spokesman Keith Maley said.

A number of Special Olympics athletes were expected to be at the wake. Gov. Deval Patrick and Boston Archdiocese’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley also planned to pay their respects. A half-hour prayer service was scheduled for 6 p.m.

Shriver, the sister of President John F. Kennedy and Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, had suffered a series of strokes in recent years and died at Cape Cod Hospital on Tuesday in the company of her husband, her five children and her 19 grandchildren.

She was also the sister of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; the wife of 1972 vice presidential candidate R. Sargent Shriver; the mother of former NBC newswoman Maria Shriver; and the mother-in-law of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Shriver’s creation of the Special Olympics and her efforts to bring the mentally disabled into the mainstream were inspired in part by the struggles of her mentally disabled sister, Rosemary, who was given a lobotomy at age 23 and spent the rest of her life in an institution.

Shriver revealed her sister’s condition to the nation during her brother’s presidency in a 1962 article for the Saturday Evening Post.

Now more than 3 million athletes in more than 160 countries participate in Special Olympics. Well into her 70s, she remained a daily presence at the Special Olympics headquarters.

She was the recipient of numerous honors, including the nation’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which she received from President Ronald Reagan in 1984. Her brother Edward received the same award Wednesday from President Barack Obama. Because he was unable to attend, his daughter, Kara, accepted the award on his behalf.